


He Has Your Eyes

by splkespiegel



Category: OFF (Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 09:25:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6417976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/splkespiegel/pseuds/splkespiegel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The guardians knew Hugo before the Batter. The Queen, however, knew the King before all else.<br/>A short piece expanding upon how the guardians began and ended, with a bit of who the Batter was before he became a holy man.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He Has Your Eyes

Dedan rather liked Hugo. When he was first appointed as one of the boy’s guardians, he kept up a purely professional act – being a divine protector of the Queen’s son was surely a prestigious task, and he’d be damned if he were caught not taking it seriously.

But something about the prince chipped away at that steely exterior. Eventually Dedan found himself being dragged off on tiny adventures by the cliffs, or helping Hugo draw pictures of the Queen and her three disciples, or wrapping Hugo in his coat as he told stories of the new world they would create to calm his crying fits.

If the Queen noticed this tender change in him, she said nothing of it during their meetings. Sometimes, though, Dedan swore he could see her smiling to herself as if he’d done something very pleasing for her.

 

The Batter stood before him now, with that awful smile plastered to his face, bat gripped in unshaking hands, an Add-On behind him bathing Dedan’s office in holy light.

Something about the purifier’s face stirred a memory in him. He pushed the recollection aside and charged forward, determined to protect his people, his zone, his Queen, and his prince.

As he faded away and the Batter turned his back to him, Dedan thought of the old King, for reasons he could not explain.

  
-

 

Japhet the Firebird was buried in a book when the Queen informed him of his newest task. He was to be the second guardian of her son, along with Master Dedan. He accepted his assignment graciously, putting a slip of paper in his place and setting the book down to take a deep bow.

The next day he flew off to the Queen’s cottage with a satchel of storybooks in his beak to introduce himself to the prince. He set the satchel on the table and told the boy that his mother asked him to watch over him. The boy – Hugo, Japhet later learned – told him that he was excited to play with him and Dedan.

As the days went by, Japhet learned more and more about his tiny prince. Most importantly, he learned that Hugo could not read. Appalled that no one had thought to teach him, Japhet took it upon himself to read to him out of books about the old world. Under his watchful eye, Hugo started reading more and more complex tales, even going so far as to write some of his own to go with his drawings. Japhet helped him bind the papers with twine into little storybooks and placed them on the shelf with Hugo’s now permanent library of stories Japhet had given him.

 

An era later, Japhet the Firebird was standing atop his library when the Batter informed him that he would be “purified”. He did not care. He was not afraid to die, in that land where no one remembered him.

After the purification was complete, Japhet spent his last moments watching his blood stain the roof of his monolith and wishing that his rulers had not abandoned him.

 

-

 

When the Queen asked Enoch to watch over her son along with Dedan and Japhet, he was hesitant to accept. He was not what one would call a “people person”. He much preferred being in charge over having equals, and had never prided himself on being social beyond what was necessary. Of course, she was his Queen, so he obeyed without question and told her that he would perform to the utmost of his ability.

The moment he laid eyes on Hugo he knew that this boy would be the exception. He was sitting on his bed, with drawings and writing spread all around him, scribbling in what seemed to be a notebook or a journal. Enoch cleared his throat and asked Hugo if he’d like to bake a cake over at his cottage.

Hugo’s eyes went wide and a smile broke across his face, and Enoch could barely contain his joy. The prince hopped off of his bed, notebook forgotten, and grabbed hold of one of Enoch’s giant hands in both of his own. Enoch grinned and picked Hugo up, placing him atop his shoulders. The two of them wandered off towards the next cottage over, laughing about what a great day it was going to be.

 

Years after the new world was complete, the Batter had killed Enoch’s people in cold blood. All of his elsen were dead, his zone a blinding void. The Batter was going to kill him, too. He could feel it, a bone-deep fear telling him that he would not last. Enoch pushed this fear aside and steeled himself. He could hear the monster’s footsteps echoing down the hall to his chambers. Enoch would avenge his people. He would stop the Batter in his tracks before he could bring harm to the Queen and her son.

The purifier was running away. Enoch chased him through the zone and focused all of his fleeting energy on destroying this “holy man”.

It was not enough.

Enoch felt the life flowing out of him. Mustering everything he still had in him, he told the Batter that the destruction he wrought was killing innocents, and that without guardians, the zones would disappear.

The Batter’s eyes left Enoch’s mangled form, trained instead on the path before him. His Add-Ons glowed at his back, whiter than Enoch’s beloved, empty zone. Just before everything slipped into the Nothingness, Enoch wondered why this harbinger of doom reminded him so much of the kindly ruler his Queen once loved.

  
-

 

The Queen looked sadly upon her husband. Seeing him in this light was strange to her – years ago, when they ruled over the zones from this platform together, his face was kind and his words were sweet. Now his eyes were icy, and accusations spilled from his lips.

She tried to reason with him. To get him to return home. He looked out across the horizon and told her that he already had; that the two of them were standing within the cradle of their father.

The Batter struck first. Moments later he was looming over her body, head still high. His stance was proud, nearly regal.

The Queen looked up into his face. For a moment he looked like the old Batter – like the King she had fallen in love with.

She told him that he had their father’s eyes.

“They are full of fear.”


End file.
